About The Author

Publisher of World Soccer Talk, Christopher Harris founded the site in 2005. He has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Guardian and several other publications. Plus he has made appearances on NPR, BBC World, CBC, BBC Five Live, talkSPORT and beIN SPORT.
Harris, who was born and raised in Wales, has lived in Florida since 1984, and supported Swansea City since 1979. Last but not least, he got engaged during half-time of a MLS game.

48 Comments

JimDecember 26, 2013

Oh dear. United two down already after 15 minutes. Still lots of time for United to get back into it. Can the old United show up?

Unfortunately for me, the Manchester United defense has been absolutely shocking. Yes there might be questions about the corner which led to the 1st goal, but both goals were scored because of poor decisions

And Rooney’s amazing 150th EPL goal makes it 4 goals in 25mins & anyone’s game with a lot of time left. It’s fair to stay those who are enjoying lunch (UK), woke up early (US) or staying up late (Aust & parts of Asia) are being rewarded!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. Boxing Day should be a holiday in the US as in UK and Canada. Or at least have the EPL play the day after Thanksgiving. It looks like it took ManU a bit to get rid of the Christmas hangover but it’s a good match when it could of been a drab 0-1 ManU win.

Another game that United had no business winning. Then, again, that’s about 80% of United’s games…it doesn’t hide the fact that this is a mediocre United side that will struggle to finish in the top 6 this season.

BTW, Danny Welbeck is a beer league player…it will be laughable if he makes England’s WC roster…

Yeah. I guess you only should get three points when you play well. Jealous much I dare say. I guess it it is kind of hard to win againstba team with the best home defence, also held Man city to a lowly 2 goals AT the Etihad. Not like they are a bunch of mugs. Not to mention we were missing RVP, Carrick, Jones and this is Darren Fletchers first start in one year after coming back from illness. Any team that comes to the KC is going to struggle they have a very good defense so stop being childish and articulate your points better instead of coming across as bitter and jealous.

Two yellows, a red, and a penalty all on iffy calls in 6 minutes.. Well Stoke-Newcastle is rigged, us American fans would appreciate it if you Europeans could clean up the rigged matches in your professional soccer leagues. By the way, the equalizer was set up by an uncalled handball on the other end. We are down two guys and another Stoke player just got a yellow for nothing.

When did he dive? Certainly not when Kompany turned his kit from a medium to an XXXXL. Not when Kompany pushed him once, he stayed on his feet, then got another desperate shove in the back. Or how about when he was kneed in the back just outside the area? Heaven forbid he show a little bit of pain and grievance after that one.

Aaron, how about when Kompany was pulling his shirt (and he was, and could have been a foul) and he went flying the opposite direction with his hands in the air like he just took 4 shots to the chest from a large caliber rifle? Suarez is an amazing talent, but he spends as much time diving as Tom Daley.

Embellishment to call attention to an ACTUAL foul is NOT a dive. Are you seriously suggesting that Suarez acted in such a way during that play as to have justified a yellow card had the referee deemed it so? A dive is, after all, a bookable offense, particularly when it occurs inside the penalty area. No, the referee didn’t call it because he KNEW that if he did he would have to completely ignore Kompany’s very obvious and aggressive shirt tugging which would have put him in a lot of hot water. Better to just poo-poo Suarez (who was blatantly fouled on several other plays without penalty earlier), England’s whipping boy, and count on the eager boo-birds to hop back on the bandwagon.

Suarez has been guilty in the past of playing things up, but you can’t have watched that match, seen what he fought through, seen the fouls that he should have won but didn’t get, and think he was anything but hard done by.

Considering Liverpool have gone from a 7th place finish last season to getting themselves in the thick of things up to this point, they’ve done a good job today. The Etihad isn’t the easiest place to go – they’ve had wins with 6 past Arsenal, 6 past Tottenham, 3 past Everton, 4 past Man United, 4 past Newcastle – so for Liverpool to lose 2-1 isn’t the worst result in the world I don’t think.

They can walk away today with their heads held high. It’s glaringly obvious that there’s still a lot of work to be done but the important thing is they’re moving in the right direction. Keep their heads down, take each game as it comes, and a very possible top 4 finish can see Liverpool return to sit amongst the so called big boys once again.

One other thing – I HATE it when there’s a stupid decision in any game, whether it be a game like Stoke v Sunderland or a Manchester derby – the amount of money in the game these days should mean we’ve got PROFESSIONAL officials who are spot on with what they do.

Fair enough if the call is marginal… mistakes happen at full speed. But when a player is MILES onside, it’s nothing short of criminal, especially when the overall result hinged on it.

LFC should have had 4 other goals today. Sterling “offsides” call, Suarez shot that was going in blocked by Henderson into an offside, Hendersons back heel flick that should have been an Allen tap in and Sterlings flub in the 6yd box. Liverpool’s defense played exactly like I thought. No clear cut chances for City inside the box even though City had good possession around the area. City’s threat came in set pieces and even then Liverpool defended those better than usual. They gave up no dangerous free kicks around the area neutralizing Toure. Cant believe Mignolet made the mistake that ultimately was the difference. I think Liverpool did everything they set out to do on the road, holding City to 2 goals is nothing to sneeze at. All in all I thought LFC played well and deserved a result. If they take that tenacity to Stanford Bridge, I believe Liverpool can end Mourinhos home unbeaten streak.

That one sequence with Cissokho giving it away consecutively was stressing but it didnt result in shots so no official chances given. Mignolet had no difficult saves to make, including the winner, and that was Liverpool’s defense around the area